Why do you think a considerable body of statistical evidence demonstrates retention email communication works a lot better than acquisition email marketing?

In retention email communication, we are already connected to the particular customers we want to address. They may have signed up for our newsletter, requested premium content of some kind or bought something from our online shop.

We know something about them and they already know something about us - they have chosen to engage with us. Trust and interest has been established to different degrees and is waiting for you to take affirmative action to grow and build upon.

Now, how do you make this happen more and more in all your email communications so that each instance becomes a unique moment to really interact with them?

Let's not forget you are engaging with a person. So you have to ask yourself a few questions and see how you can get more personal.

Do you have an effective email communication strategy? How often are you emailing your customers, prospects, readers and why? How well do you know your recipients?

You want to minimise list churn by over sending. And you also have to avoid sending undifferentiated messages which will end up being ignored, deleted, or in their spam folder.

To get more personal, you need to know more about them as a person. And you usually know more than you think about your customers. The secret is to make sure all the information you collect (via email marketing campaigns, IT and support services, or your sales department) is actually current, normalised, organised and made available in your system. This is what CRM systems are made for and are effective at in differing degrees.

Then linking the interrogation capabilities of CRM systems and the distribution performance of email communication technologies allows you to use that information to send targeted and really relevant messages. At the other end of the chain web analytics will provide you with essential understanding on how your customers interact with you across multiple touch points (email marketing, campaign microsites or landing pages).

Also, listen to them, allow dialogue through the email communication channel (avoiding 'do not reply to this email' at all costs) - give them choices. Offer them the possibility to set their preferences when they sign up to receive your information and at every other opportunity when they interact with your messages and site pages, use surveys when necessary, and respect whatever choices they made.